The nutrition fair is a way for the students to learn about healthy eating not just by hearing about it, but by seeing and trying the food, said Agnes Lally, the school district’s director of food services.
“Because this is nutrition month, we want to tie all these activities together,” Lally said.
John Muir students stopped at booths about food, nutrition and physical activity, which were set up on the playground, before arriving at the salad bar for lunch.
At one booth, Sabrina Bohn, who grows vegetables in Woodland Hills and sells them at the weekly Glendale farmer’s market on Brand Boulevard, held up various fruit and vegetables and helped students identify them.
A group of kindergartners easily named the carrots and broccoli, but were unsure about more exotic items like radicchio and Brussels sprouts.
At another booth, chefs served up mini portions of spinach lentil soup.
Some of the children looked askance at the unfamiliar substance, but others tried it with excitement.
“It tastes good,” 5-year-old Joseph Castillo said.
At a third booth, employees from a Glendale Albertsons grocery store got students to try new foods by playing a game called “Fear Factor.” The children rolled two dice to get a number, and then were asked to try the fruit or vegetable laid out on a corresponding paper plate.
Nine-year-old Sevada Safaryan didn’t hesitate to try a slice of green bell pepper, even though he expected it to be a hot pepper.
“I thought it was really hot. But it wasn’t,” he said.
At lunchtime, Aram Derderian, 9, tried a bite of green star fruit, and decided it was all right.
“It’s not sweet,” he said. “It’s gooey.”
